We are now almost into the second half of 2008, well after the promised tightening up of data security procedures and techniques promised by the still secret Reviews by Kieran Poynter and by Robert Hannigan, which following the scandalous data security and privacy disasters involving the HMRC Child Benefit lost CDROM disks, and the MOD recruitment database stolen laptop computer etc.
See Poynter and Hannigan review reports fail to reassure anyone about UK Government data security and privacy issues - final reports delayed until after the May 2008 Local Elections ? and Ministry of Defence 600,000 recruitment records on stolen laptop - ignorance or "Data Traitor" malice ?
Several UK Government visitors to this blog have been looking up mentions of the Hannigan review in particular, in the last week or so..
The BBC are reporting an "extremely serious" security breach involving Top Secret documents from the Cabinet Office. left on a train..
[image via this BBC news website report Secret terror files left on train]
According to the chatty BBC TV news journalists, this latest scandal involves:
- 7 pages - two documents - in an orange
manilacardboard folderenvelope.There also seems to have been a copy of a scientific magazine e.g. perhaps New Scientist or similar. - Joint Intelligence Committee assessments of the current, latest assessments of:
- "Al Qaid's Constraints and Vulnerabilities" - commissioned for the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and the Home Office. This seems to have had UK TOP SECRET STRAP2 CAN/AUS/UK/US EYES ONLY Protectively Marked document classification, with a red border, and presumably, a very limited number of copies.
The document is dated 5th June 2008 and headed JIC(08)087
"This paper was discussed by the JIC and approved on 5th June 2008"
- The state of the security situation in Iraq, including "damning criticisms" of the shortcomings of Iraqi government security forces - commissioned for the Ministry of Defence. This was apparently marked as Secret
- "Al Qaid's Constraints and Vulnerabilities" - commissioned for the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and the Home Office. This seems to have had UK TOP SECRET STRAP2 CAN/AUS/UK/US EYES ONLY Protectively Marked document classification, with a red border, and presumably, a very limited number of copies.
- These documents were, it seems, left on a train from London Waterloo to Surrey yesterday morning.
These levels of Protective Marking imply that the information contained in these documents could have put people's lives at risk if disclosed to the wrong people:
Secret - This marking is used for information whose side-effects may be life-threatening, disruptive to public order or detrimental to diplomatic relations with friendly nations.
Top Secret - Information marked as Top Secret is that which whose release is liable to cause considerable loss of life, international diplomatic incidents, or severely impact ongoing intelligence operations.
The Joint Intelligence Committee is chaired by Alex Allan, the former "Sir Humphrey" at the Department for Constitutional Affairs / Ministry of Justice , the former UK Government e-envoy and who performed the real life role of "Bernard Woolley" to both Prime Ministers John Major and Tony Blair. When appointed to this JIC role, his home address and mobile phone numbers were available on the internet, via the Domain Name registration whois system,
Luckily these JIC documents were handed in to the BBC, who then handed them to their security correspondent BBC's Frank Gardner, who said that there did not seem to be codenames of people or operations, but that there were some damning criticisms of Iraqi security forces.
They are being returned to the Government via the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command, although, of course, they might now be seized as evidence for a forthcoming criminal trial.
Some Obvious Questions:
- Are these two documents the original, numbered copies - in breach of established procedures ?
- Are they illegal photocopies made in breach of the well established existing procedures ?
- Will any senior Sir Humphreys heads roll at the Cabinet Office ? Not just the hapless idiot (possibly a Military officer) who actually left them on the train, but his managers and superiors ?
- Will anybody be prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act 1989 section 8 Safeguarding of information
- If not, then why not ?
- Given how cheap mobile computers or data storage is, with full, UK Government approved strong encryption, why are there any such documents, at this level of Protectively Marked document security classification, ever printed onto paper in the first place ?
- Is this yet another case of the most senior people in Government flouting their own rules, which they inflict on their subordinates, and on the rest of the public ?
- How many other such documents have been put at risk by this wretched individual or by his colleagues ?
- Will there now be Yet Another Review of Procedures which will be Ignored Again ?
- If the UK Government cannot even secure Top Secret documents of this nature, then why should they ever be trusted with a national centralised biometric National Identity Register database, i.e. with very long term sensitive information which cannot be changed or amended or re-issued, for the rest of your life ?
What an appalling botch up. An embarrassment. Those are some very pertinent questions you ask. I'll be watching with interest to see how this story unfolds.
Great website - keep up the good work.
Cheers,
Katie
The mind boggles. How one could read that on a train let alone leave it on a train is unimaginable.
The BBC reports that there is going to be a prosecution under the Official Secrets Act 1989 section 8 (1) Safeguarding of information.
Why has it taken so long to decide to do this ?
See: Lost data official to be charged
This bit sounds ominous:
Is he now a Prisoner at the Village ?
Is HMP Belmarsh not suitable for the likes of such apparatchiki to be held on remand then ?